Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
June 17, 2025
Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445
State Designates 9 Historic Sites as Virginia Landmarks
—The newly designated landmarks are in the counties of Louisa, Mecklenburg, Frederick, Halifax, and Nelson, and in the cities of Charlottesville, Newport News, Staunton, and Roanoke—
RICHMOND – Among the nine places recently listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register are a 1960s Modern-style house designed by Herbert Fritz, Jr., an architect mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright, the 20th-century architect and designer known for his nature-inspired structures; one of the largest historically Black cemeteries in Virginia outside of Richmond; and the first high school in the City of Roanoke specifically built to serve Black students during Jim Crow, when Virginia’s public schools were racially segregated.
The Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources approved these properties for designation on the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) during its quarterly public meeting on June 12, 2025, in Farmville. The VLR is the commonwealth’s official list of places of historic, architectural, archaeological, and cultural significance.
At the conclusion of its meeting, the Board approved the following places for listing in the VLR:
In the state’s Eastern Region,
- In Louisa County, the Cuckoo Elementary School, built circa 1925, is a rare surviving two-room schoolhouse that served rural Black students in grades one through seven during the era of racial segregation in Virginia’s public schools until it closed in 1955 due to a fire. The school represents the small schoolhouses that were common throughout rural Virginia from the 1870s into the mid-20th century. The Cuckoo School was designated a landmark under the African American Schools in Virginia: A Multiple Property Document (MPD), which the Board of Historic Resources also approved during their meeting on June 12.
- Situated along U.S. Route 1 in rural Mecklenburg County, Park View High School opened in 1955 to serve White students as part of countywide school consolidation and equalization efforts during Jim Crow. It is representative of organized efforts against school integration in Virginia during the 1950s and 1960s. Largely built in the International architectural style, the school is also associated with the expansion and professionalization of vocational education in Mecklenburg County, particularly during the 1970s.
- The Thomas and Alena Hammond House in the City of Charlottesville was designed in 1962 by Herbert Fritz, Jr., an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, the acclaimed 20th-century architect known for his designs inspired by the natural world. Constructed of wood, fieldstone, and glass, the one-story house embodies the distinctive characteristics of “Wrightian” architecture with its open floor plan, central hearth, cantilevered roof, and organic materials and forms that blur the line between interior and exterior space.
- The Stuart Gardens Apartments in the City of Newport News exemplifies a local large-scale, publicly financed housing complex built in 1941 by the Defense Homes Corporation with funds from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s programs to promote military preparedness during World War II. The apartments provided housing for servicemembers and civilian wartime production workers and their families during the war. Stuart Gardens’s design reflects the Federal Housing Administration’s requirements in its provision of quality housing.
In the state’s Northern Region,
- Located in remote southwest Frederick County, Gravel Springs Farm centers on a five-bay brick house constructed in 1836 in a vernacular, late-Federal-era domestic architecture that calls attention to the evolution of the Federal architectural style in the area. The farm’s meticulous landscaping and the presence of five original outbuildings on the property reflect its owner’s pride and glorification of the agrarian lifestyle.
- Established in 1868-69 in the City of Staunton by two local African American churches, Fairview Cemetery stands as one of the largest historically African American cemeteries in Virginia outside of Richmond. One of only two documented African American cemeteries within the city, Fairview includes over 2,200 documented interments and an estimated 1,000 additional unmarked graves. Marked burials portray the gamut of African American lifestyles possible in the South after the Civil War, beginning with freedmen and the formerly enslaved in 1869 and encompassing the eras of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights.
In Virginia’s Western Region,
- In Halifax County, the Williamson Farm centers around two historic dwellings: the Leonard R. Williamson House, built circa 1840 with mortise-and-tenon timber framing, and the current main house, a two-story frame residence constructed in approximately 1910. Expanded to include a circa-1850 log tobacco curing barn, an early 20th-century chicken coop, and other structures, the Williamson Farm includes a collection of domestic and agricultural buildings that embody distinctive architectural styles and methods of construction from a period spanning over one hundred years of development.
- Located at a strategic intersection of the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and James River Road (State Route 56), Shipman Historic District in Nelson County developed in the late 19th to early 20th century as the primary transportation hub for travel and the shipment of goods to and from the south-central part of the county. The district grew through the mid-20th century from a depot known as “Nelson Station” into a full-fledged community that included schools, churches, a post office, a cemetery, various commercial businesses, and many residences.
- Lucy Addison High School opened in 1929 as the first high school in the City of Roanoke specifically designed to serve Black students during the period of racial segregation in Virginia’s public schools. Built in 1928 and named for the pioneering Black educator Lucy Addison, the school represented a significant investment by city leaders in the education of local African American students and was touted as a standard-bearer in Virginia for its high school training programs for Black youth. Following integration in Roanoke schools in 1971, the school building was used as the administrative offices for Roanoke City Public Schools until 2025.
The Board also approved in its June meeting the updated National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Registration Forms for the properties listed below. The updated forms include revisions to the historic boundaries of properties as well as additional documentation on the historic resources located on those properties.
DHR will forward the documentation for the newly listed VLR sites to the National Park Service for nomination to the NRHP. Listing a property in the state or national registers is honorary and sets no restrictions on what owners may do with their property. The designation is foremost an invitation to learn about and experience authentic and significant places in Virginia’s history. Designating a property to the state or national registers—either individually or as a contributing building in a historic district—provides an owner the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credit improvements to the building. Tax credit projects must comply with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
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